Stephen Robinson swept back into the Premiership as St Mirren boss - and immediately targeted ending a 35-year wait for European football in Paisley.
The former Motherwell boss makes his Buddies dug-out debut against Dundee at Dens tomorrow knowing victory will catapult his new side into fourth position and the Euro spots.
And that’s where he wants them to stay.
The Northern Irishman shook hands on a two-and-a-half year deal after a whirlwind 24 hours that began with him preparing his Morecambe side to face Rotherham.
But after Saints agreed a six-figure compensation fee with the Shrimps Robinson was heading back to Scottish football.
Robinson took Well to a third-place finish in the Premiership two seasons ago and then into Europea League qualifying victories against Glentoran and Coleraine from his homeland before bowing out to Israeli side Hapoel Be’er Sheva.
And he said: “We are one of four or five teams who will be thinking we can get European football.
“We have put ourselves in that position to compete for that fourth spot.
“It would be fantastic for the football club. Competing against top, top teams – it was an incredible experience for us when we got into Europe with Motherwell.
“We had the tie in Israel which was the pinnacle of it but we did it without fans. There were a minimal amount of fans.
“It would be brilliant to do it in front of a full stadium here and maybe abroad as well.”
St Mirren have only ventured into European competition four times - and the last of those in 1987-88 European Cup Winners’ Cup after Alex Smith delivered the Scottish Cup to Paisley.
But the Europa Conference League has opened up extra opportunities for smaller clubs.
And Robinson said: “It’s another slot to get qualified. Perhaps you come up against lesser teams but if you don’t come up against real big hitters then you can progress in the tournament.
“It’s certainly an incentive. To pit your wits against different managers from different countries, for fans to get that experience – it’s the ultimate experience.”
Robinson has been thrust straight into the business end of the season with Euro spots up for grabs and a Scottish Cup quarter final against Hearts just around the corner.
He’s also faced with a number of top team stars entering the final few months of their contracts including Jak Alnwick, Eamonn Brophy and Conor McCarthy.
He said: “Those three players are ones I’m very keen to keep, although we haven’t spoken about it yet.
“I had a joke with one of them at training - trying to convince him to sign an extension today – but it’s something we definitely need to address sooner rather than later because the longer you leave it, the harder it becomes to persuade them to stay.
“I definitely want those three players to stay but there are others who are also out of contract that we need to sit down with.”
Robinson added of his own decision to move back to Scotland: “It was a really tough one. I took training at Morecambe and by the time I came off there were a lot of messages on my phone.
“I was unaware of what was going on. Morecambe informed me St Mirren had met the compensation and wanted to speak to me.
“I felt with how much St Mirren had put into it and how much they’d gone after me I wanted to speak to them.
Once I’d spoken to them – it probably wasn’t until 4.30pm on the Monday – I was really impressed with what Jim Gillespie (vice chairman) said to me, about where they want to take the club, the infrastructure.
“I like Scottish football, I enjoyed my time up here. My partner is from Scotland so it was a good fit. It wasn’t an easy decision but it’s one I’m comfortable with.
“I’ve come up and seen the facilities. You see it from afar but I’ve seen it up close and I’ve been really impressed.”
